Inside Story

Both the consistent life ethic and biblical feminism are foundational principles for Sojourners. We draw strength, challenge, and sometimes pain from the work of keeping these truths connected-a work that's been unavoidable for us in the current volatile context of the abortion debate. The cover feature, "Women and Children First," looks at how to reduce the number of abortions in the United States and take action that is pro-women and children. Also in this issue, Gordon Aeschliman argues that while it has never been popular to wed the notion of evangelicalism with social justice (and probably never will be) that's not an excuse for evangelical progressives to stop being either. Gordon's musings raise up a clear-eyed but hopeful take on the alternative choices Christians have when confronted with the Religious Right. Finally, as this issue goes to press, we are overjoyed to have Richard Vernon, our reception intern, back with us after a three-month exile. Richard, who is from Glasgow, Scotland, was turned away in January when he tried to return to the United States after a visit home. After many frustrating and futile wanderings through the immigration and State Department bureaucracies, our intern program director, Rose Berger, was finally able to get him back. (In the process, he was designated a "test case," yet another dubious Sojourners achievement.) Our sincere apologies to anyone who had phone calls or messages go awry while the rest of our staff took turns at the switchboard during Richard's absence. And if you call before September, be sure to say hello to Richard.